Travels with Grandpa 2023

 In June 2023, Grandpa made his first solo trip to the US. Whilst he was here, we took the opportunity to do a road trip down through Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York, with a short detour into Canada.

Day 1. June 19 2023 Millis  MA to White Haven PA.

We left home on Monday morning, on the road by about 8am. Boring driving this morning up the 495, out I90 then swung south on the 84 through Hartford Connecticut.

Stopped for petrol and morning tea just outside Waterbury at a McDonalds, then back on the I84 into New York and across the Hudson River. 

We arrived at Milford Pennsylvania at lunch time and stopped for lunch at the Milford Diner right in the middle of town. Good food!

The afternoons drive took us down the 209 along the Delaware River. We stopped at Dingmans falls to stretch our legs and go for a short walk. Since the creek we had been following off the main road was barely more than a trickle, I was worried that we were wasting our time, but it turned out to be better than expected. 

There was a boardwalk the entire way to the main falls making for an easy pleasant walk. First up was the silver thread falls. They were barely a foot wide, but really tall  cutting a tiny chasm through the rock that really did look man made. 

And at the end of the walk Dingmans falls. There was quite a large amount of water coming over the falls,  but then just a couple of metres downstream,  the river was barely a trickle.  It must have all been going directly underground.

We all decided against walking to the top of the falls and headed back to the car.  From here it was just over 1 hours drive down the 290 and then out the 80 to our hotel. A holiday in at the junction of the 80 and 475. Not a lot around, just a couple of hotels and a bunch of fast food joints, but the rooms were good. Kids got a room to themselves across the hall from Grandpa and I.

We headed down to the pool - it wasn't really heated, but it did have an attached spa that was so I was set.  Lounged in there for an hour or so (with a few brief jumps in the pool to cool down).

Since there was so little around for dinner I asked for recommendations at the front desk.  They recommended the Tavern on the trail and even gave us a free appetiser voucher - so we headed for the closest town White Haven to try it out.  Well they warned me it was a bit of a dive and they were right, but they also said they had good food - in that they were wrong!  Certainly not a vegetable in sight, greasy....not the greatest.  Had to then try and get out of there before 7pm when karoke was starting.

Did a quick walk around the town, the stopped at the ice cream shop for an ice cream for dessert - they had flavoured soft serve so tried that - got a huge portion - could barely eat it all.  But it was good!

Day 2. June 20 2023 White Haven PA to Rockhill Furnace PA.

Breakfast provided in the hotel so had that early, then headed south to Jim Thorpe.  I had just seen a documentary where they showed this town, but driving in I could not recognise it at all.  Turns out theres basically 2 towns,  the new modern Jim Thorpe and the old quaint, touristy Jim Thorpe.  It was the old town that they showed.  We found the old town and were really impressed with it driving through.  It seemed to quaint and well kept and fantastic.

We parked the car down by the train station and decided to take a walk around town.  First stop was the tourist info center where the guy informed us that basically nothing in the town opens till 11am....now what sort of stupid idea is that - the train goes at 11am - why wouldn't you open up to get the tourist trade before the train? 

We walk up the main street and got our next disappointment - what looked great from the car was a bit run down on foot. Oh well, it's still pretty!  We were going to stop and buy a chaucherie board to take on the train - what a great idea - but guess what - yep they were closed - so had to settle for a couple of donuts instead.  

We headed back towards the train station to check our our first train for the trip.  This one was only a diesel engine, not steam but had some nice old carriages (and a classic caboose) We had tickets for the dome car on this train.

Kids got on first and got us seats, unfortunately despite being in town super early we were not first on the train so didn't get the best seats.

The train trip ran right along the river through the Lehigh Valley George.  Some beautiful views of the river.

After the train trip we decided to get straight on the road and find a place to eat a little further along.  We drove out along the 209, through cooal mining town after coal mining town.  The towns were cute, but you could tell not prosperous any more...and none of them had anywhere to stop and eat.  It was an interesting drive though.

At about 1pm we arrived in Pottsville which was a much bigger town with all the amenities 

we decided at stop at the first place we saw - which ended up being a KFC - nothing exciting but it filled our bellies so we could continue on.  Still had a fair bit of driving to do.

Next stop was Centralia - The story behind Centralia is that one of the coal mines under the town caught fire 1962 and has been burning ever since with probably 100 more years to go if the experts are correct.  The town had to be abandoned due to the risks of the fire being right beneath it.  I had heard that you could still see smoke rising from the ground in places, but not the day we were there!  There is nothing left to see these days - not even any of the abandoned town buildings, they've all been torn down - so it was a bit of a disappointment really,. The only thing we were able to see was a small geyser that is due to the underground pressures in the region.

So after that disappointment we continued on our way out 61 to Sunbury where we crossed the Susquehanna river, then down the 522 to Orbisona.  The place were were staying for the night is technically called Rockhill Furnace, but it's basically a part of a (slightly) larger town called Orbisonia.

Rockhill Furnace is the home to the East Broadtop Railroad and right across the road from the EBTR  station is the house of the Governor superintendent of the railway - an 1885 Victorian home that is now a B&B and our accommodation for the night.

It was beautifully done up inside.  

The kids and I had a suite - two bedrooms and a bathroom.

And Grandpa had his own room.

One of the best things about this place though was the location. 

Views of the train station across the road.

And the round house and train yards in the other direction

With a cute little balcony with rocking chairs - great for sitting and watching the railway.

and for watching the sunset!

Views from the train yard back towards the house.

For dinner, again there was not much nearby so we headed down the road 8 miles to the spring creek diner.  A nice little local diner, but again the food wasn't great - and the weirdest thing was they closed at 7 pm so we had to get in and out fast!

Day 3. June 21 2023 Rockhill Furnace PA to Cass West Virginia.

Had an easy morning this morning waiting for the train.  We were given breakfast at the B&B but were not overly excited about it. A plate of scrambled eggs, 2 sausage links, one slice of toast (which was either underdone to burnt) and a small bowl of fruit - all served by a young woman who - lets just say has a very limited experience in life (had no idea where Australia was).

Then spent the morning either walking around the town, watching the steam engine get stoked up - or just sitting on the front porch watching the world go by.

Once the engine was up and running we wandered over to the train station to check out the train.

For todays train trip we actually had seats in the caboose....I was a bit disappointed to find out the caboose wasn't red (how can you have a caboose that isn't red).  But it was fun to explore inside - with the seat up in the cupola.

You can just see Lexie and Josh in the upper windows.

The train ride itself was pretty short - 15 mins out - 15 mins to turn around, 15 mins back, and then 15 mins to turn around again.  But was great fun watching the steam engine do its thing,

East Broadtop also has a trolly museum, but of course it didn't open before 11am when we were on the train (what is it with everything not opening till 11am), and we had too long a drive to check it out after our train trip. Too bad cause it had some cute little trolleys.

Once we had finished our train ride. we had a quick stop at Subway for lunch, then were on the road again. 

We headed South on the 522.  At a little place called South Fulton Dad took over driving for the first time - and I promptly got him onto the road going in the wrong direction...We finally found a place to get off and turn around and got back on the road, crossing into Maryland, then heading west on the 68 to Cumberland.  We turned south on the 220 and at Keyer, just across the border in West Virginia we stopped at a Dairy Queen for an break (and a blizzard) and to switch drivers again.  It rained on and off all afternoon which wasn't so fun, as we headed further south in to the wilds of West Virginia.  It would have been a beautiful drive through the mountains and valleys of West Virginia - except that the rain kept tumbling down!  We managed to miss a turn at one point, taking us on a many mile detour, but at least it led us to a petrol station at Petersburg which was getting a bit necessary.  We finally made it to Cass at about 6pm in the rain.  Looks like a nice little place.  Easy booking into our place.  We reserved on of the "Company houses" they were the original houses for the railroad workers and are now being done up for the tourists.

The house has a lounge , dining room and kitchen downsairs and three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.

And a number of furry friends outside. - groundhogs and deer.

We had dinner at the restaurant at the main building since it is the only option...again not the greatest food - we seem to have a theme going here - bad food everywhere.

Day 4. June 22 2023 Cass West Virginia.

Today was a down day around Cass since the train trip that we wanted to do only ran on Fridays and Saturdays.  Unfortanely (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) it rained all day.

The people who run this place don't seem to have a great grasp of tourism.  They provide all these beautiful houses with huge fully equipped kitchens that you can rent, have a great big store in town...but do not sell even the most basic of groceries - you want bread - sorry no don't have any of that...If I wanted some fancy jam or honey I was in luck, but milk no, none of that.  So Grandpa and I headed across the river to see if we could buy anything for breakfast.  Despite a big sign on the front of the building saying groceries there was again no bread or milk or really anything resembling basic groceries, but they did have a little cafe so we ordered some pancakes  - took forever to arrive, and when they did they were basically inedible....another bad food experience.

We walked around the town between rain showers.

Spent some time down at the train depot watching the trains go out and come in.

We had hoped to drive up the mountain and get some good views of the surrounding area and possibly go horse riding however - problem no. 1 - The is no phone reception in this area.  There is a big radio telescope nearby and they have specifically made sure that there is no phone reception available nearby so that there is no interference, but that meant that I couldn't call up the horse riding place to see if we could get in.  I went to the visitor information to see if they could call on their landline and she did, but couldn't get through, but she did tell us that there was some race going on at the big ski resort up the mountain and all roads up were closed - so there goes that idea. 

We decided to head over to Greenbank instead and check out that radio antenna.  They had a small science museum that we spent some time at - then stopped at the Dollar General to stock up on some basic groceries.  Bough a frozen pizza for dinner and some crackers and cheese and breakfast stuff for tomorrow.

Dinner was frozen pizza in our house, then we went down to the soda counter at the company store for ice creams.

Day 5. June 23 2023 Cass West Virginia  to Morgantown West Virginia

Today was the big train ride day, this was the one we were waiting for.  The engines in this line are not your standard engines they are Shay locomotives that have a special drive shaft/gearing/piston system to go up the mountains, around tight curves etc.

Our carriage today was an open carriage with benches down the middle looking out, but thankfully it isn't raining today so it was really nice.

The tracks that we on had two big switchbacks to get up the mountain faster.  The engine pushed the carriages up the first section, then at the switchback it changes direction and pulls the carriages up to the next switch back where it switched to pushing again.

Below you can see the lower track of the switchback, as we head up the upper track.

The engine pushing the carriages...

The train runs for 45 mins to Whittaker, an old timber camp that has been done up as a train stop.  

The have a concession stand and picnic tables so we had some morning tea (Grandpa had his first American hot dog)

Then we boarded the train for the trip back down the mountain.

In a trip to the gift store before the train, Lexie purchased herself a little necklace pocket watch which she loved. 

We had a quick lunch at the only restaurant - My expectations were not high based on the other meals we'd had, but they were still dashed - I mean how can you ruin nachos?

Then it was time to hit the road.  We were headed north today destination Morgantown West Virginia.  It was a nice drive - we occasionally got blue sky, occasionally rain.  Stayed at a basic Motel 6.

was basic, but clean and we were able to get two interconnecting rooms.

Since we were in a big town decided to try and finally get some good food so found the local Mexican restaurant.

Much better - we followed it up with a quick trip to Dairy Queen for dessert.

Day 6. June 24 2023 Morgantown West Virginia to Niagara Falls Ontario Canada

This morning we barreled straight up the freeway (79), past Pittsburg Pennsylvania until we hit Lake Eerie.  We were hoping to drive along the lake and have some good scenery...but the fog was against us.  As soon as we got close to the lake the fog rolled in.  We finally found a place where we could get right down to the lake edge - it looked like the end of the world.

We drove along the lake for a ways until we reached the town on Dunkirk where we stopped for lunch.

The back on the freeways and up to Buffalo where we crossed into Canada.

The border crossing was easy enough, but soon after the heavens opened up and it just bucketed with rain - considering I had no GPS now that I was in Canada, only vague maps and now could not see more than 3 feet in front of the car, that was a bit harrowing.  Thanks fully it eased off as we got to Niagara, and we managed to find our way to our motel without any trouble.  We were able to check in even though it was beofre 3pm.  Got a family room with 4 queen beds for me and the kids and Grandpa got put into the room next door with a heart shaped jacuzzi.  Shame he didn't get a chance to try it out!

The guys at reception said it was a 20 min walk down to the Falls and parking was expensive so we decided to walk it.  Straight down Lundy lane.  The first part of the walk wasn't through salubrious neighborhoods, and then we took a wrong turn somewhere, so instead of going straight down to the falls we ended up in Clifton Hills - or as we named it Disneyland Niagara.  I know this area was here last time I came, but it is so much worse now.  There were people everywhere - go carts, mini golf, bright lights, tacky souvenir shops - and did I mention people everywhere.  It was hot and we were all pretty miserable by the time we got down to the falls, and it wasn't much better down there - still people people everywhere.  We did at least find out where we needed to go later tonight.  We walked along the park beside for the falls for the little ways, enjoying the views.

Then headed back up the hill towards home.  They did at least put a Dairy Queen half way up the hill so we were able to stop in and get a treat and drink.  We walked home by a different, much nicer route, but it was just so strange to see it change from total tourist town to normal suburban neighborhood and then back to dodgy again.

We got back to the hotel around 5pm and had a rest for an hour before heading out to dinner.  We were going to try an Italian restaurant but we missed the first one, and the second one was way too upper class for us, so we ended up next door at the flying saucer restaurant.

But we didn't linger too long as we had an appointment down by the falls.

We were going to zip line down by the falls.

We got there a bit early (drove down this time so left plenty of time to find a place to park and walk) so enjoyed watching the sun set over the falls.

The it was time to get geared up and ready to go.

They have 4 zip lines side by side so were able to all go together which was great.

It was so much fun - such a great view of the falls, and you do zip quite far, ending up right down at the old hydro station, where they took our obligatory pictures.

Convinced us to buy their obligatory pictures - then gold carted us back to the top.

It was a fantastic experience and I'm so glad we did it!

We then hung around the walkway along the falls till 10pm to see the fireworks show before joining the throngs trying to get out of Niagara by car.  40 mins to get home - probably would have been faster to walk, but at least it was easier on the legs.

Day 7. June 25 2023 Niagara Falls Ontario Canada to Owego New York.

This morning I was hoping that we could get up early and try and get down to the falls before the crowds got there, but the weather was against us again. It was totally foggy.  We headed down there anyway - this time going up to the head of the falls where you can see the upper river just drop off.  I illegally parked the car and we walked over to the top of the falls, and the fog was good enough to lift just enough to see the edge. and you could still hear it, which I find the best part of the experience.

We then headed out to IHOP for breakfast - too many pancakes......why do they make their portions sooooo big.  back to the motel to pack up an get back on the road.  First stop, the bridge back to America.  Took longer to come back in than it did to get into Canada.  We drove straight out the 90 to Rochester, then turned north and headed for Lake Ontario, hoping that the fog wasn't going to stop us from seeing anything here.  Thankfully it wasn't and we had a nice drive along the lake.  And best of all, we managed to find a great big public park right down on the lake at Pultneyville, so we went back to the little local cafe, bought some food and headed for the park for lunch.

From here we headed south, corssing over the 90 and heading for Geneva and Seneca Lake.  Had a beautiful drive down along the lake to Watkins Glen.  Had beautiful blue sky day for most of today and it was a really beautiful drive.  At Watkings Glen we headed East to Ithica where we stopped at a Panera for afternoon tea and researched where we could stay tonight - this was the one night we hadn't pre booked.  I did a quick internet search and found a hotel right on the Susquhanna river with Patio rooms and an indoor pool - we thought we had it made..... But of course what's the saying - if it sounds too good to be true is probably is.  It was in fact a pretty dodge hotel, there was no one in the lobby to check us in -I had to try two different phone numbers to get a hold of anyone.  And they then put us in two rooms at opposite ends of the hotel hallway, our room stank of...something....and the pool was not heated....

Bugger.  Oh well - it's only a night.  What the little town that we were in (Owego) did have was a Mexican restaurant, and it was one of the best Mexican meals I've had in ages....  So things looked up a little after that. The town also had a nice little walk down by the river and a lot of nice old buildings and houses. 

Day 8. June 26 2023  Owego New York to Home

Today was basically a driving day to get home.  First to Binghampden, then up the 88 to Albany and along the 90 towards Home.  Stopped for lunch at Westfield, found a Hot Pannini fast food palce that was actually really good.  Major crash on the 90 closer to Boston so we jumped off and took the back streets to get home.